Ski Make: Volant
Ski Model: Machete Truth
Ski Length: 180
Snow Conditions Used In: Packed w/ 3" of fresh on top
Number of Days Used: 1
Your Ability: 9+
How Many Years Have You Been Skiing: 27
Avg. Days per Year Skiing:20
Other Skis You Like: All Volants
Your Height/Weight: 5'11", 195
Comments: Best Volant I have ever skied. I think working with Atomic has really helped the skis. Edges gripped super, better than any Volant in the past. My guess its Atomic influence there. Mutch snappier than previous T3 Epics.

Phil,
I picked up a pair of Truths (180's with Look P12 Lifter) for this season as well. First pair of Volants for me. Haven't skied them yet. Still waiting for the rocks to get covered over. Did you get a chance to ski some trees or steeps with these? Just curious how they did.

Originally posted by thommy21:Phil,
I picked up a pair of Truths (180's with Look P12 Lifter) for this season as well. First pair of Volants for me. Haven't skied them yet. Still waiting for the rocks to get covered over. Did you get a chance to ski some trees or steeps with these? Just curious how they did.

Steve

Hunter has some good steeps (for the east), they held very well on the "packed" snow. No trees as of yet, I have a trip planned to MRG later this year, will know more then, but I don't expect any surprises.

I just demoed the Truth in two lengths: 165cm and 170cm. I am 165 pounds, 5' 10", have been skiing Atomic 11.20 in 170cm and original design Volant Machete in 173cm this season. Skier level? I dunno, PSIA Cert 2. Conditions were variable with windblown groomed packed powder, wind packed powder and crud, and a few icy spots exposed by the wind.

The 165 cm was loads of fun, especially on groomed and less deep powder/crud. Turns on a dime and gives 6 cents change. Stable at speed in big turns. Nice carver. Had good grip on the icy stuff. Doesn't blast through the heavy pow and crud like the 11.20's, but not many skis do. Nice in bumps, I didn't flounder around as much as I do on the stiffer 11.20's. Definitely an improvement over the first generation Machete.

Its amazing how much difference just 2 inches in length makes. The 170's wanted to make a bigger radius than I expected, and didn't seem to have as much edge grip on the hard snow. Being longer, its a little easier to remain balanced in variable snow. They did feel more stable than the 165's, but I didn't feel that was enough to offset the reduced quickness. In bumps they felt about the same as the 165.

From my previous demos of new Volants it is my opinion that they feel really long compared to the old ones and can be skied very comfortably in shorter lengths that would have seemed laughable a couple of years ago. The Gravitys seemed huge to me at 175cm, and the model I liked best before trying the Machetes was the Vertex 68 in 165cm. The Machete feels very similar to the Vertex with a higher speed limit.

Finally had a chance to get these skis out this weekend. Great conditions at Steamboat lots of powder to be found even after Thursday's big dump. The only skis I can compare to are the Mod X's 188, Bandit X 180, and PR 175.

Skied these on Sat morning 3-5in of fresh on packed powder/powder. They handled very well and turned well without much difficulty even in covered bumps. Skied the trees but nothing very tight. Felt a little more comfortable than on my Mod's probably due to the shorter length. In knee high powder and lower these floated well.

Skied the afternoon on PR's. Hunted for similar terrain on a different part of the mountain. Like many I continue to be surprised at the PR turning ability. Floats great and at the length I'm on are very good in tight trees. I wished I had the Truth's on my feet on the way back to the lot at the end of the day. Took some crusers that were worked over throughout the day. Hard pack and ice these, to me, felt unstable. I found myself on the edges of the slope looking for the soft stuff. I can't complain because I did pick these up just for powder days.

Sun- Back on the Truth. Didn't know it but they got 9" at the top. Debated going back to get the PR's but I wanted to see how these did in the deeper stuff. I want these to be my day to day ski. Up top found some spots where it was knee to waist high. They did ok in this type of snow but definitly could have used a little more float, either more waist or more length . Tended to fight the skis from diving especially at slower speeds. The Soul or Sin I imagine would be a better choice in the Volant line for this type of snow.

Tried Chutes 2 and 3 and I was happy with their ability to make short and hop turns. Great edge hold. Again I'm comparing to my Mod X which also do well. Toward the end of the day I looked for some bumps. Wasn't looking too hard earlier given the powder. No VW sized stuff but in mid size were no problems. Anything it didn't do well is probably due to my technique rather than the ski. Did what I've asked in the past of the Mod X and Bandit. On the way down took a groomer and these like to carve. Seemed very at home in packed powder. I look forward to more days on these.

On the quality side I noticed after a fall that the red fiber sidewall at the tail had peeled a bit. The back edge of one ski must have rubbed on the other ski sidewall. Little red fiber stuck out and pulled off easily. I'm hoping that this is only for appearance and the "true" sidewall is more durable.